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Hello,
I’m beginning to shop for a piano, and when I look on pianomart, the majority of the pianos near me are from a place in lilburn. I assume this is the same person posting all of these. Anyone have experience buying from this person? The prices seem reasonable
Thanks!

Do you live in the area? I’m sure someone will be able to answer your question, but please checkout Piano Works in Atlanta- many here have experience with the company and regard them highly

https://www.pianoworks.com/

There is one particular store in that area (and I think we're talking about the same one) that seems to spam the heck out of all the local Craigslists and Pianomart. I have not visited there, because I don't like their method of guerrilla advertising, and many of their listings are "by owner" when it is very obvious it is a storefront or "by dealer". Also, the pictures are of pianos in various houses and the ads have odd keywords or "tics" about their listings that make me suspicious.

I did a search on Lilburn's zip code on pianomart.com and got 200 listings .... wow.
I randomly picked some photos that appear to be in a private home, but the description includes a lot of boiler plate about shipping that doesn't make it feel like a private sale. So it seems like it must be a dealer who is either good with photoshop, or is having people take the pictures in their homes before they sell/tradein their pianos to the store, or he's advertising them on some kind of consignment agreement.

Yes, the Lilburn listings are all the same, as are a few others that pop up in the GA area.

Those listings are not a "scam" in the sense that, he really does have pianos for sale, and if you buy a piano from him, you will get a piano.

But he and his associates are not people I would trust. My piano teacher visited his warehouse and was really turned off by the person who he met (whether it was the main guy or not, I don't recall), my teacher said that the pianos weren't prepped, the space wasn't climate controlled, and the person kept trying to push pianos that my teacher wasn't interested in, but wouldn't show him ones he drove there to see.

When I was piano shopping, I also heard similar things from a local-ish piano tech. This tech said that the Lilburn guy will sell anything, and say anything to sell. He doesn't care about the quality of the instruments. The tech also said that if someone felt really confident in their ability to screen an instrument, they might consider doing business with the guy, but it's sort of a buyer-beware situation.

Unfortunately.



I think he also might have a screen that he stands up behind the pianos as well, it's meant to look like a living room or something.

He is all over Facebook Marketplace as well.

I remember being very discouraged by it all when I was piano shopping.

BTW agree with these comments as well. I really dislike the smokescreen. The guy is a piano dealer, he should just be upfront about it.

And yes, he always says the same things and recycles the comments, one is something like "this isn't just a piece of furniture anymore."

I've mentioned this same dealer/seller here before, regarding all the Craigslist ads for used pianos he has, plus Facebook and others. As for the ads for pianos that appear to be in private homes, I think he owns some of the homes where the pianos are located. This is hearsay, because I was told by someone else, but I was told by an acquaintance of his that he owns several homes in and around the Lilburn area, mostly used for housing and storing all the pianos he has. He has hundreds, and possibly thousands of used pianos for sale, although he may work out of a couple of primary warehouse locations.

Also, FWIW, he's been in business for a long time, and does long-distance piano moving, and international sales, primarily Europe. And, to give credit where credit is due, he's a very good pianist (some of his YT ads shows him playing the pianos he is advertising).

Not sure this helps, but I hope it does...

Rick

Thanks everyone; this confirms what I was thinking. Too bad that this person essentially monopolizes the piano mart searches.

I’ll check out piano works!

Hey Rick, thanks for those comments. I think it sort of puts it in perspective, that it's complicated.

And as I wrote above, "he really does have pianos for sale, and if you buy a piano from him, you will get a piano." Whether any of us wants to do business with him or not is a separate question.

BTW now I'm curious, I'll have to see if I can find some of his videos!

Best of luck to you Rhailey, keep us posted on how your search goes!

Hi Dr. ShiroKuro! I've seen many of the guy's piano ads, and the videos where he's playing the piano he's advertising for sale. Of course, many piano dealers do that, whether they are playing themselves or one of their associates. He used to use the Vimeo videos a lot in his ads, and may still have some on his dealer website. But he can play well, in my opinion... way better than me, but that doesn't take much.

All the best!

Rick

What's the world coming to when a local yocal can't flip a few pianos?

Rhailey

When you go to Pianoworks - if you meet Sam Bennett, tell him that many people on pianoworks
recommended them!
Check out YouTube videos of Derek Vann playing some of their rebuilds!

Also, a little up the road in North Carolina in HENDERSONVILLE is another great family owned Piano Showroom
FREEBURG Pianos - is a great place and LEVI and his family Keith & Joanne are fantastic to deal with.

https://freeburgpianos.com/

Tell LEVI - Joey sent you ok?

PS I purchased my Steinway Model A rebuilt from 1912 - it's everything one wishes for in a rebuilt from the Golden Age.

brdwyguy

(I know you're joking but) it's way more than a "few" pianos!

smh...

A few per day...?


Is this the "Yamaha with a Steinway bench" guy?

I think I saw a Young Chang with a Yamaha bench… I was kinda scratching my head about that…

The title of the advert is ‘one Atlanta owner grand piano with Yamaha C7 bench.’ And then you open the advert and it’s for a Young Chang G200. Seems a little misleading to me… who buys a piano because of the bench?

+1 for Piano Works and Sam Bennett and Derrick. Great guys with great pianos.

The other seller goes by A440 Pianos and the man's name is Pascal. I wouldn't buy a piano from him EVER. He's been in trouble with the law before too from what I understand about ivory imports. Also, for example:

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/funeral-for-a-cracked-plate-piano-caveat-emptor/

The other two Atlanta stores that I would say are 'ok" are England Piano (Kawai dealer) and Piano Distributors (Yamaha). Personally I don't like Cooper pianos. It has a used car dealer vibe.

Again, I would just go talk to Sam at Piano Works if you didn't find something used (and that's a whole other conversation!)

Oh, that guy. I answered one of his ads about 10 years ago when I was looking for a good core piano to rebuild. I was sort of a hobby rebuilder back then. He had lots of good candidates, some really interesting pianos that would have been fun to rebuild. But they were all priced too high for me. He had a house and a storage building full of pianos.

The reason he advertises a name brand bench with his pianos is that when you search for a Yamaha or Steinway, his advertisement will come up, even though it is a Young Chang or an Ivers and Pond or whatever. That tactic tells you all you need to know...

Sam